UK employment law in January 2026: Employment Rights Act's imminent law changes

Employment Rights Act 2025 – confirmed changes 

All people professionals should bear the most immediate changes in mind:  

From 18 February 2026 

• For public sector businesses – check the details of the industrial action rule changes that are being brought in. These ease barriers to entry (for action) for unions.
• For all businesses, there are a plethora of changes that will impact trade union relationships (in February, and over the coming years). If you wish to implement a strategy to capture all of these changes, use the working with trade unions' checklist. 

From 6 April 2026 

• Note, that the qualification requirements for paternity leave and unpaid parental leave both change in April. There is also a new day one right to bereaved partner’s paternity leave and reforms to Statutory Sick Pay. These changes will impact all businesses. 
• For any business undergoing transformation, it is also worth advising senior leadership and HR teams that the penalty - for poor collective redundancy consultation processes - is doubled. 

Member support 

We are supporting members to get their business ready for the ERA 2025 changes with new resource hubs. Each hub offers practical, relevant content tailored to your needs; including compliance checklists, process guides, and clear explanations of the law.

This January we’ve launched four of these hubs. Bookmark them and we will maintain them with the resources you need:  

• Trade unions 
• Sick pay 
• Unfair dismissal
• Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave

Other laws or items to note for the year ahead 

While we are all engrossed in the comings and goings of the ERA 2025, it is important for note that there many other areas of regulation and guidance under development:  

• Where applicable, people should make their business aware of the new identity verification requirements being introduced under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. These are intended to make it harder for businesses to put fraudulent appointments on the Companies House register.
• If your organisation uses, or provides, AI systems and you have employees or customers in the EU, you need to be aware of the EU AI Act (AI Act). The Act came into force on 1 August 2024 and is being rolled out in phases. Many of its obligations will apply from 2 August 2026. To support implementation, the European Commission is publishing guidelines, standards and codes of practice this year and beyond. In addition, on 19 November 2025, the Commission published a 'Digital Omnibus on AI', which proposes to simplify and streamline the Act’s implementation and reduce administrative burdens on businesses. For example, by adjusting compliance deadlines and clarifying requirements. 
• Continuing on AI, people professionals will be wise to advise their business that in the UK there are some AI-related reforms in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. It is likely that in Spring 2026 we will see new automated decision-making guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office.  
• Marketing businesses, and any business planning marketing or a brand campaign this year, may wish to note that the UK’s regulator for advertising is cracking down on greenwashing in 2026. The ASA are taking increased action to identify non-compliant advertising claims – such as claims for carbon neutrality and net zero or greener homes and products. To keep your business ahead, useful guidance comes from the CMA's Green Claims Code and the CIPD’s organisational sustainability guide. 
• Under the plan to Make Work Pay, HR leaders should also start to consider the reforms that are forecast in the upcoming draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill (for which the consultation has now closed, and the responses are being assessed).  The Bill looks to implement mandatory reporting and corrective action in a similar manner to gender pay gaps. The Bill is likely to be published in Spring 2026. It will be particularly important for businesses with more than 250 employees, as, for these busineses, new pay reporting duties and enforcement activity is expected.
• And finally, there is also a drive for a reform of non-compete clauses in 2026. HR leaders should communicate to business that the government is intending to change non-competes in a manner that would open opportunity to support entrepreneurs and reduce barriers to growth, particularly for start-ups and other small businesses.